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Acts chapter 16, the second missionary 
journey recorded in chapter 15 at verse 36 to chapter 18 at 
verse 22, took place in the years 49 to 52, included Derbe, Lystra, 
Phrygia, and Galatia. And then in addition, God leads 
Paul to Macedonia starting from Troas He goes to Philippi, Thessalonica, 
Berea, Athens, and finally Corinth before returning to Antioch. 
So we see the beginning of the church in Philippi here in chapter 
16. Our passage this morning will 
be verses 6 to 15, but I want to read beginning in verse 6 
to the end of the chapter. So Acts 16, beginning in verse 
6. Now, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, 
they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in 
Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into 
Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by 
Mysia, they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul 
in the night. And a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 
Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now, after he had seen the 
vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding 
that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore, 
sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the 
next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which 
is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city 
for some days. And on the Sabbath day, we went 
out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily 
made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now, 
a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple 
from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened 
her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she 
and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, If you 
have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house 
and stay. So she persuaded us. Now, what 
happened is we went to prayer that a certain slave girl, possessed 
with a spirit of divination, met us, who brought her master 
as much profit by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and us 
and cried out, saying, these men are the servants of the Most 
High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. And this 
she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned 
and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ 
to come out of her. And he came out that very hour. 
But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, 
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace 
to the authorities. And they brought them to the 
magistrates and said, These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble 
our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, 
being Romans, to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together 
against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded 
them to be beaten with rods. and when they had laid many stripes 
on them, and they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer 
to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, 
he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the 
stocks. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing 
hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly 
there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the 
prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and 
everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, 
awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing 
the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill 
himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself 
no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, ran 
in, and fell down, trembling before Paul and Silas. And he 
brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So 
they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be 
saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the 
Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them 
the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately 
he and his were baptized. Now when he had brought them 
into his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced, having 
believed in God with all his household. And when it was day, 
the magistrates sent the officers, saying, Let those men go. So 
the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, 
The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, 
and go in peace. But Paul said to them, they have 
beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into 
prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No, indeed, let 
them come themselves and get us out. The officers told these 
words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard 
that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with 
them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the 
city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house 
of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged 
them and departed. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
again, thank you for the Word of God. Thank you for this section 
in the Book of Acts and for the emphasis on preaching the gospel, 
on making disciples, and on planting local churches. Father, you have 
set a paradigm, a pattern that's so simple for the church to follow 
throughout throughout its ages, and we pray that you would help 
us as we consider these passages to be affected with reference 
to evangelism, with reference to missions. God, help us to 
be a prayerful people, both individually and as families and as a church. And God, we know that there is 
great need throughout the earth. And even now, forgive us for 
all of our sin and our transgression and fill us with your Holy Spirit 
that we may receive with thankful hearts your blessed word of truth. 
And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. was 
I said we have here the beginning of the church in Philippi. I 
think I've shared with you before that Jews in the first century, 
probably even before or after that, would wake up in the morning 
and thank God that they were not born Gentiles, they were 
not born slaves, and they were not born women. It's quite intriguing 
that the very founding of the church in Philippi was with Gentile 
women and slave. So the Lord God in his sovereignty 
shows his approbation of gospel preaching and the reception by 
the elect of God. So I want to look this morning 
at the Macedonian call for help in verses 6 to 10, and then secondly, 
the conversion of Lydia in Philippi in verses 11 to 15. But let's look first at this 
Macedonian call for help, and here we see two specifics. First, 
the sovereignty of God, and then secondly, the call itself. Now, 
when we read in verse 6 that they were forbidden by the Holy 
Spirit to preach the Word in Asia, and then the Spirit did 
not permit them when they wanted to go into Bithynia, the emphasis 
is not on the reality or the thought or the supposition that 
these were reprobate provinces, that there was no hope for them. 
Later on, the gospel will go back into Asia, and the Asia 
that is referenced here is the Roman province of Asia. It is 
Asia Minor. It was one of the provinces in 
the Roman Empire at this particular time. Later on in chapter 19 
and chapter 20, there will be ministry that occurs in Asia 
Minor. But at this particular juncture, 
what we are to take away from this section is not that the 
gospel isn't going into these particular provinces, but the 
emphasis falls on the activity of the Holy Spirit in directing 
the missionary enterprise. In other words, when we undertake 
for God, God does not leave us alone in the world. We see that 
in the Great Commission, and lo, I am with you always, even 
to the end of the age. Christ, by the Spirit, is present 
with his people when they engage in obedience with reference to 
the missionary enterprise. So the Spirit's forbidding, and 
the Spirit's prohibiting, and the Spirit's not permitting them. 
Again, it's not to say that these provinces were under the wrath 
and fury of God perpetually, but at this particular juncture, 
the Lord wanted the gospel to go to Europe. Southeastern Europe, 
that's what Macedonia was, and so it shows or demonstrates to 
us that the Spirit is not only present when the original missionaries 
are selected in Acts 13. Remember, missionaries don't 
pick themselves, missionaries don't suggest themselves, missionaries 
don't run unsent, but rather the Spirit comes to the church 
in Antioch, a church that was stacked with teachers and prophets, 
and the Spirit says, separate for me Paul and Barnabas to the 
work that I have called them to. So the Spirit is involved 
at the outset of the missionary enterprise. We see the Spirit's 
involvement in the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15, 28. Remember, the Spirit's involvement 
doesn't always mean miracles and signs and wonders and extraordinary 
supernatural displays of power. It can be in the regular, the 
normal and the ordinary, such as the drafting of this letter 
by the council at Jerusalem to send to the churches to try and 
stomp out the Judaizing heresy. So the Spirit is involved in 
that, but we see as well the Spirit is involved in directing 
the missionaries to the particular place where the Lord God had 
called them. So with reference to these prohibitions 
or lack of permission on the part of the Spirit, we're not 
to conclude that these people were all reprobate, but at this 
particular juncture, the Macedonian call is what is conspicuous. 
The Geneva Bible says with reference to God's sovereignty, God appoints 
certain and determined times to open and set forth his truth 
that both election and the calling may proceed of grace. So there 
is a specific reason why we read that they were forbidden and 
not permitted. It is to underscore the involvement 
of the Holy Spirit and ultimately the sovereignty of God in the 
missionary enterprise. And for us today, As far as we 
obey the Lord as a church, as far as we undertake those things 
which God has called us to, we have the confident expectation 
that the Lord will be with us. It's not the case that He abandons 
us in our time of need. It's not the case that He delivers 
up His Son for us and then forgets us or rejects us when it comes 
to extending the kingdom that He has called us unto. We have 
a real life Holy Spirit and he's not the commodity of the Charismatics 
and the Pentecostals. Reformed people need to be about 
the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We come to the Father through 
the Son and the power of the Spirit. We serve a triune God. and we are not to neglect one 
of the persons of the Trinity. Now notice in verse 8 they arrive 
at Troas. Now Troas was a coastal city 
located on the northwestern tip of Asia Minor. It was near ancient 
Troy. It was often used as a port of 
embarkation for Greece. It was about 585 miles from Antioch 
in Syria. So they're a long way from home, 
they're in Troas, and they're going to launch out over the 
Aegean Sea to get into Macedonia. They spend a night on a little 
island called Samothrace. And the whole journey, according 
to the passage here, only took them two days, which indicates 
they had good winds. Because later on in chapter 20, 
when they make the journey back from Troas to Philippi, it takes 
five days. So in this particular instance, 
they are on the way to this region. But notice, so Troas is the launching 
point, but then notice specifically the Macedonian call. Verse nine 
tells us a vision appeared to Paul in the night. This is the 
sixth, or I'm sorry, the second of six visions in the book of 
Acts. You have one in Acts chapter 
nine, one here, one in chapter 18, chapter 22, chapter 23, and 
chapter 27. Again, underscoring the reality 
that God is involved with his church. God doesn't leave them 
as orphans. He doesn't leave them alone. 
He doesn't say, I want you to go, therefore, to all the nations 
and make disciples of them, but I'm just going to let you do 
it on your own. Now, we don't get visions, and we don't get 
dreams, and we don't get those sorts of Macedonian calls today 
because we have the written word of the living and true God. We 
have his mind revealed to us in the Old and New Testaments. And so the visions have ceased, 
but the activity of God with his people have not. The Spirit 
is with us and the Spirit here, or this vision rather, comes 
from God and indicates this Macedonian man. Now notice, it says in verse 
9, a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia 
stood and pleaded with him saying, come over to Macedonia and help 
us. I think I've shared before that reading Bible commentaries 
is not always the most edifying and exhilarating experience. 
Some ask the question, how did they know he was a Macedonian 
man? Well, I think the fact that he's calling them to come to 
Macedonia certainly tips the scales in terms of that interpretation. But they get this man, or Paul 
rather sees this man pleading to come to Macedonia. and a hell. Now Macedonia had been a world 
power under Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great four 
centuries earlier. Since 168 BC it had been a Roman 
province. The Greeks regarded the Macedonians 
as barbarians except for the royal family, but they shared 
the same gods as the Greeks. Philippi became its principal 
city during the Roman period. which shows us what Luke is saying 
here at verse 11 and 12, when they come into Philippi, which 
is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. 
It wasn't the capital, but it was a prominent city within Macedonia 
itself. Now, notice this man pleads with 
Paul and says, come over to Macedonia and help us. So how do the apostles, 
or how does this team rather, respond with reference to this 
vision? They conclude immediately that 
they need to go. They understand the emphasis 
that has come through God that they need to make this journey 
over to Macedonia so that they can preach the gospel. Note that 
interpretation. The Macedonian man in this vision 
says, come and help us. Now that help could have been 
a whole lot of different things. Could have been food, could have 
been clothes, could have been teach us to farm, could have 
been a whole host of things, but Paul and his team understood 
this. The help that is in view, the 
help that the nations desperately need is the gospel of Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Certainly humanitarian aid and 
trying to befriend or show love from one nation to another, those 
are all noble and good causes, but the nations stand in need 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. And that is precisely 
what these men understood. And notice this is the first 
we section in the book of Acts. We includes Luke. So Luke is 
with them, with the team at this particular juncture. Some suggest 
that perhaps he was from Troas or perhaps he lived in Philippi. 
We don't know, but he certainly joined the team at this particular 
time. But it says in verse 10, after he had seen the vision, 
immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the 
Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. I wonder 
if we'd make that same conclusion. Again, not saying there are visions 
today, not saying that the supernatural continues because we have the 
written Word of God in the New Testament. But if we had a figure 
from another country make an appearance in a vision and say, 
come over and help us, would we immediately conclude as the 
church in North America that we're to go preach the gospel 
there? I think at times that's like the third or the fourth 
thing. First, we've got to make sure they have food. First, we've 
got to make sure they have clothes. First, we've got to make sure 
they have good water. Again, things that are most excellent 
and most wondrous, but things that occupy Christian missionaries, 
is the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Today we call 
everybody a missionary if they simply set foot on foreign soil, 
but that's not the way the New Testament defines or describes 
missionaries. Missionaries are those who preach 
Christ and Him crucified to make disciples and then to plant churches. If we operated with reference 
to that definition when we describe missionaries, I think we'd have 
a lot less missionaries. Christian universities at times 
take these short-term missions trips to go overseas and spend 
a week or two on the ground. That's not missionary-ism. That's not missions. It may be 
support. It may be service. It may be 
an expression of the second great commandment. But brethren, the 
preaching of the gospel is what these men concluded Macedonia 
needed. And I don't think it's hard for 
us to conclude the same thing relative to Canada, the United 
States, everywhere in North America, and to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. The help that the nations desperately need is Christ. It's the Lord Jesus. He is the 
hope and the desire of the nations. He is the altogether lovely, 
the chief among 10,000. And these men conclude based 
on this call for help that we would go and preach the gospel. 
The help the nations desperately needs is addressed by David in 
Psalm 67. I read that at the outset of 
worship. It's a glorious statement concerning God's missionary heart 
with reference to the nations of the earth. Now notice, secondly, 
in terms of the larger context, the conversion of Lydia in Philippi. So they arrive in Philippi. They sail from Troas. As I said, 
it took two days. They probably stopped for the 
night in Samothrace, and then they arrived there. Now, Philippi 
was named after Philip II, the king of Macedon, and the father 
of Alexander the Great. It was the site of the Great 
Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, when Brutus and Cassius were 
basically slain by Octavian and Antony. So it was a famous place 
and a foremost city of this part of Macedonia. Now, notice what 
the text says in the middle of verse 12. And we were staying 
in that city for some days, and then verse 13, and on the Sabbath 
day we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was 
customarily made, and we sat down and spoke to the women who 
met there. Now, a couple of observations 
here. First, Paul's typical practice when he went to big cities was 
to go to the synagogue. He knew in the synagogue he would 
meet people that were at least to one degree or other familiar 
with the God of Israel, and it sort of paved the way for his 
preaching of Messiah. Well, there must not have been 
a large Jewish population in Philippi. There was no synagogue. You had to have had ten men in 
order to form or establish a synagogue. So, what the Jews did, or the 
people, that were Gentiles, that were God-fearers. We don't know 
whether Lydia was a Gentile or a Jew. She is described as a 
worshiper of God, which indicates that if she was a Gentile, she 
had imbibed with reference to the God of Israel. She was interested, 
she was intrigued in Old Covenant religion. But nevertheless, there 
was no synagogue, so they go by the riverside, where the people, 
who were committed to the God of Israel, would ordinarily gather 
to pray. And again, there's a lot of ink 
spilled on whether there was a building there or not. It doesn't 
matter whether there was a building there or not. There was a group 
of people that wanted to get together and pray to Yahweh. And it is intriguing as well. 
Paul has a vision, right? A vision. I mean, that's a monumental 
thing at any time of redemptive history. And in that vision, 
there's a man who is pleading with them to come to Macedonia 
and help. Perhaps in the mind of the apostle, 
he thought that as soon as they got up to the shores of Macedonia, 
there would be this great welcome. There'd be this great reception. 
That's not the way it works. There's a handful of women gathered 
by the riverside on the Sabbath day. Not many wise, not many 
noble, God calls. And in this instance, the founding 
of the Church of Philippi As I said, a woman, a slave, and 
a Gentile make up the nucleus of the congregation. God is glorious 
and wondrous. He doesn't need, you know, hordes 
of people in order to accomplish His will here on earth. So they 
go there, they're sharing truth with the ladies there by the 
riverside. Now notice, with reference to 
Lydia herself, we read in verse 14, Now, she was a seller of 
purple. In Thyatira, which was in Asia 
Minor, they were known for their purple dye. It either came from 
a shellfish or from the madder root. Whatever the madder root 
is, I could have googled it, but I didn't. I just assumed 
that the commentators were speaking truth, so I assumed they were 
right. but they were known for their purple dye, and she was 
a businesswoman from Thyatira all the way up in Macedonia. 
The fact that she's referred to as the householder, those 
of her household, would indicate, or it seems to indicate, that 
she's either A, single, or B, she's a widow. So, with reference 
to her actual identity, that's all we have with reference to 
this particular woman. Now, notice what happens as they 
speak. Verse 14, now a certain woman 
named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from 
the city of Thyatira who worshiped God, again, either a Gentile 
God-fearer or a Jew. But the end of verse 14, the 
Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. It's an amazing thing, isn't 
it? We have these statements that are stated so matter-of-factly. So fluidly, so easily, it's just 
referred to in that way. Now, we as Reformed people are 
those who hold to what's called the doctrines of grace. We don't 
stumble on that. We don't go, oh, okay, wow, that's 
interesting. We just assume that because that 
was our experience. We were not seeking God. God 
sought us. We were not looking for the Lord, 
the Lord found us. We weren't wise, we weren't ingenious, 
we didn't have the ability to raise our hands or respond to 
an invitation. We stand here as monuments of 
sovereign grace, right alongside of Lydia. So Paul is speaking 
the truth of Christ to her. Paul is giving her the truth 
concerning who Jesus is, that mediator of the new covenant, 
that one who is both God and man in one person, that one who 
lived in perfect obedience to the Father, that one who died 
as a sacrifice and a substitute, that one who was raised the third 
day by the Father. That's what Paul is speaking 
to her about. Again, they're not there to make 
sure they know how to farm make sure they know how to conduct 
business in a proper Christian ethic. That's not their emphasis. 
The emphasis is on preaching Christ and Him crucified to these 
people. And so God the Lord now opens 
her heart to heed the things spoken by the apostle. What does 
that indicate? She was described as a worshiper 
of God, but her heart was closed. Why was her heart closed? Because 
she was dead in her trespasses and sins. She was beyond hope 
in terms of her ability to ascend into the heavenlies. It was God 
the Lord who was the efficient cause. We see the instrumentality 
of the truth. We need to preach the gospel. 
We need to set forth the reality of Christ in him crucified. But 
where does our hope come from for conversion? It's not in our 
ingenuity as evangelists and missionaries, or as witnesses 
and testifiers, we trust in the sovereign power of God. We know 
that He's able to open hearts, and He does that here with this 
woman Lydia. And He does that here to display 
His sovereignty, to display His grace, to display His mercy, 
and to manifest His glory in the conquest of sinners. This 
is another evidence, like the creation itself. On a morning 
like this, you look up in the sky, and you know that the heavens 
declare the majesty of God. The psalmist says that. The heavens 
declare the righteousness of God. The heavens declare the 
power of God. We look at the history of the 
world and see how God has overruled man, and how God has sustained 
man. And in the language of our confession, 
both creation and providence manifest not only the power of 
God, but His wisdom and His goodness. but we see it in redemption and 
we see it with this woman Lydia. God opens her heart to respond 
to the things that were spoken by the apostle Paul. The heart 
of Lydia had been closed because of her place in Adam. That's 
man's problem. Our hearts are closed because 
we're sinners. We sinned or died or fell in Adam. And as a result, 
actual transgressions proceed. Our hearts are cold to truth. 
Our hearts are stocked up to truth. And when truth comes apart 
from the opening of the heart by the power of God almighty, 
it falls upon ears like dead words. So we praise God that 
in his sovereignty, he attends the preaching of the word by 
the spirit and he opens hearts and enables them to receive his 
truth. Look back at Acts 13, 48. We 
saw that emphasis there as well. And a most blessed emphasis it 
is, because there are those out there that would say or suggest 
things like, well, if God must open the heart, then that takes 
any hope away from the sinner. I say just the opposite. That 
God does open hearts is the very foundation of hope for sinners. Right? If you understand Jesus' 
discourse with Nicodemus in John 3, when Nicodemus comes to Jesus 
and Jesus says, unless a man is born again, he shall not see 
the kingdom of God. When you point out to people 
that what Jesus is saying, he's using a passive form of the verb. 
He is saying something must happen to you. Billy Graham was wrong 
when he wrote the book, How to be Born Again, unless the substance 
of that book was simply, God will open your heart according 
to his time and give you the graces of faith and repentance. 
This is not a command that men can obey unaided by God. It's not that we are told to 
be born again and given five easy steps on how to make that 
happen. It's a passive verb. Something from without must happen 
to you. And again, Arminians and others 
would say, well, that will destroy the foundation of hope from anybody 
that's seeking. No. It's the basis of hope. God's 
in the business of regenerating. God's in the business of saving. 
God is about this. Men from every tribe and tongue 
and people and nation, a great multitude that no man can number. 
It's sinners. that don't want salvation. It's 
sinners that don't respond to the preaching of the gospel unaided. 
It's sinners that if they turn inward and look upon themselves, 
that produces the most hopelessness because there's no hope in them 
for salvation apart from God. When we understand sovereignty, 
we don't minimize preaching the gospel, but we understand the 
efficient power of God who comes through the instrumentality of 
the Word to save those who believe. Notice in Acts 13, 48, now when 
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the Word 
of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life 
believed. As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 
Again, This doesn't minimize means. Look at Acts 14.1. They 
so spoke that a great multitude believed. You've got that statement 
of them so speaking that a great multitude believed bracketed 
by statements concerning God's absolute sovereignty. So the 
question isn't, well, which one is true? They're both true! We 
are to emphasize the proper use of means. We're to emphasize 
the proclamation of truth. You'll see that in Acts 16, 31. 
That Philippian jailer says, sirs, what must I do to be saved? 
Paul doesn't say, hold on, I'm going to pray to the Lord to 
open your heart. He tells him, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. Brethren, it's never easy believism 
to preach the truth of the Bible. It is never easy believism to 
call sinners to faith in Jesus Christ. That is precisely the 
pattern that we have here in the book of Acts. And then go 
back just to see this illustrated in more detail in Matthew's gospel, 
Matthew chapter 11. A couple of the very notes that 
we've seen in this passage this morning are struck by Jesus in 
Matthew 11, 25. Matthew 11, 25, at that time, 
Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent 
and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in your sight. Sovereignty, isn't it? God hid 
gospel truth from the wise and prudent. Again, there's those 
who say, well, that's not fair. Oh, it's just. God's not dealing 
with poor, pathetic, innocent people. He is dealing with lawless 
transgressors of his Holy Word. He is dealing with rebels. He 
is dealing with those who ultimately want to crucify his son. So when 
Jesus says you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, 
this is an act of justice on the part of God Most High, but 
you have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for thus it 
was well-pleasing in your sight." The same note we see in that 
missionary journey when they are forbidden or not permitted 
to go into certain regions. Why? Because God has said Ichabod 
to all those nations? No! Because of His time, His 
sovereignty, His prerogative. Now notice what Jesus goes on 
to say. Verse 27, all things have been delivered to me by 
my father and no one knows the son except the father, nor does 
anyone know the father except the son and the one to whom the 
son wills to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Remember how Ferguson 
makes that distinction. In prayer, the Lord Jesus acknowledges 
the comprehensive sovereignty of his father. In preaching, 
he says, come to me. Again, no inconsistency, no imbalance, 
but rather upholding the truth that God is absolutely sovereign 
and man is absolutely responsible under him. Christ does this, 
and on the heels of this affirmation of God's sovereignty, he says 
to sinners, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn 
from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will 
find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden 
is light. Turn to John 6. John 6, these 
are the sorts of passages that you just want to celebrate and 
rehearse and enjoy. Because apart from these, apart 
from the reality that we find there in Matthew 11, in Acts 
13, 48, in Acts 16, 14, in John 6, 44, apart from God's efficient 
grace, His sufficient grace, we would be dead in our trespasses 
and sins. we would continue unabated headlong 
right into the pit of hell. But God opened our hearts to 
heed the things that were spoken to us by whoever he put in our 
path to declare the reality of Christ in him crucified. Notice 
in John 6 at verse 44, no one can come to me unless the father 
who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day. No one. You don't have the ability 
in and of yourself. And again, instead of that saying, 
well, there's no hope for you, God has the ability. Locate your 
hope where it belongs, not in your supposed ability, not in 
your supposed goodness, not in your supposed free will, but 
in the God who has actually declared his mind to save sinners by Jesus 
Christ his son. That's where our hope should 
be in terms of gospel preaching, not the ingenuity of sinners. 
Now remember 644 as you turn back to Acts 16. I'm sure those 
of you who have had any experience of listening to R.C. Sproul have 
heard him make this connection. The verb used by Jesus in 644 
is the same verb used here in Acts 16 at verse 19. But when her masters saw that 
their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and 
dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. No one can 
come to the Father. No one could come to me unless 
the Father dragged. Now again, there would be those 
that say, well, he drags them kicking and screaming. No, that's 
the beauty of God. That's the glory of the gospel. 
That's the delight of Psalm 110, verse 3. He makes sinners willing 
in the day of his power. He not only opens the heart, 
he not only grants graces of faith and repentance, but he 
changes the affection so that what we once despised we now 
love. What we once abhorred, we want. What we once saw as restrictive 
and oppressive and harsh, we now see in the language of the 
bride, altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand. God 
is prime, primary, the primacy rather of the will in salvation 
is God's, it's not man. And we see that here fleshed 
out in the person of Lydia. It's a beautiful and a wonderful 
thing that our God opens hearts so that sinners can heed the 
things spoken by Paul or by those who follow Paul. Now notice she's 
baptized. According to verse 15, we talked 
about this a bit yesterday, in the New Testament, there wasn't, 
you know, altar calls. There wasn't every head bowed, 
every eye closed, shoot up your hand if you want Jesus. There 
was no stepping forward. There was no invitation system. There was no cards, you know, 
just sign your name on the card and pray this little prayer and 
off you'll go right on your way to heaven. That's not what you 
see in the apostolic preaching. You see, believe and be baptized. 
I mentioned this yesterday as well, and I've mentioned it in 
this pulpit. You don't see, okay, you've believed, now we're going 
to start a six-month new members class and teach you more theology 
than people in the third world have ever heard before we'll 
baptize you. Brethren, there ought to be an 
immediacy, there ought to be a desire on the part of those 
who have believed to be obedient to their blessed master. And 
that's exactly what it obtains here. Notice in verse 15, and 
when she and her household were baptized, she begged us saying, 
if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house 
and stay. So she persuaded us. Now, this is obviously an instance 
of household baptism. She and her household. The argument 
goes that we include babies because there were household baptisms. 
Infants should be baptized because of household baptisms. Again, 
she's the householder. Probably these were servants 
or attendants. We just don't know. It's an argument 
from silence. But this much we do know, according 
to verse 40, everybody who remained in Lydia's house were referred 
to as brethren. So whatever happens, with reference 
to Lydia and her household, Lydia's household also believed. Notice in verse 40. So they went 
out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when 
they had seen the brethren, presumably in the house of Lydia, they encouraged 
them and departed. With reference to infant baptism, 
this text is silent. The text does not tell us that 
there were infants there. In fact, none of the household 
baptisms in the Book of Acts or in 1 Corinthians indicates 
that there were infants there. It's an argument from silence. 
It's an argument from covenant. Again, I appreciate arguments 
from covenant, but arguments from covenant must bear out some 
exegetical proof or demonstration, and we simply don't have it here. 
Listen to John Gill. He says, hence, you knew I'd 
go to John Gill, right? He's the patron saint of Reformed 
Baptists and the fellow that certainly would indicate what 
wasn't to be used by Paedo-Baptists. He says, hence, this passage 
will by no means serve the cause of infant baptism. Whether Lydia 
was a maid, a wife, or widow cannot be said. It looks, however, 
as if she had no husband now, since she is mentioned as a trader 
herself. And whether she had many, trader, trader, D, not 
a trader to the crown, but a trader, one who sold purple, left Thyatira, 
went up into Macedonia. He goes on to say, nor can it 
be concluded from this, and whether she had any children or not is 
not certain, nor can it be concluded from this clause, for there are 
many households that have no children. Brethren, that is as 
obvious as a response to automatic infant inclusion based on household 
baptisms. My household used to have infants. We no longer do. If my household 
presently came to the Lord, there would be no specimen or no sample 
rather of infant baptism. It's an argument from silence. 
I think the best interpreters, the best exegetes, the best commentators 
on both sides have recognized that the household baptisms do 
not speak definitively one way or the other. He goes on to say, 
And if she had young children, it is not likely she should bring 
them with her to such a distant place, whether she was, or with 
her rather, she was come upon trade and business. The pleaders 
for infant baptism must prove that she had children, that these 
were her household or part of her household here spoken of, 
and that they were baptized, or this instance will be of no 
service to their cause. Again, there's times I don't 
even want to have to deal with this sort of thing, but we live 
in a paedo-baptist context, and I know that this text gets trotted 
out often in support of infant baptism. Again, I respect the 
argument from Covenant. I think it's faulty. I think 
there's some premises in there that are faulty, but I get it. 
We're going to try and argue from Covenant theology to include 
infants. Well, don't bring these passages 
that are silent relative to infants in these households as proof 
of infant baptism. And may I just say 1 Corinthians 
7.14 doesn't work either. That is even further from the 
whole idea of baptism than are these household baptisms. But 
all that to say, it was a blessed and a wonderful thing. God saved 
sinners. Right? You got to do those polemics, 
but you can't forget the point. God took this sinner, whose heart 
was dead in trespasses and sins, who was nevertheless a religious 
person, See, we have this idea that the religious are okay. 
No, the religious are as bad off as are the crack dealers 
and the prostitutes. Everybody's in the same boat 
that are not in Christ, whether you're religious, or whether 
you're irreligious, you're still in the same boat. Religion doesn't 
save. Religion isn't bad. Religion 
is a good thing. But religiousness does not ensure 
one's place in the kingdom of heaven. So this Lydia woke up 
that morning, as was her custom, She went down to the riverside 
on the Sabbath day to join her fellows in prayer, and it was 
at that point that God opened her heart so that she could heed 
the things spoken to her by the Apostle Paul. Her household hears 
those things as well. Her household believes those 
things as well. Her and her household are believing 
and they are therefore baptized. Again, the emphasis is obvious. You are belief and then baptized. They are referred to as brethren 
in verse 40, such that whoever made up her household believed 
the truth and could be considered as brethren. And then the last 
point is also evidence of God's grace. What happens when God 
changes our hearts? And when she and her household 
were baptized, verse 15, she begged us saying, if you have 
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she persuaded us. That's the 
inevitable outflow of God's grace. We are justified freely by his 
grace. And then the life of sanctification 
kicks in. What's one of the high points 
of sanctification in the Christian life? Hospitality, love to brethren. Stay at my house. I want to feed 
you. I want to care for you. I want 
to help you. How beautiful are the feet of 
those who bring the gospel of peace. This was her mindset. Paul tells us it's not circumcision 
nor uncircumcision in Galatians 5, 6, but faith working through 
love. Papists turn that on its head 
to try and conflate justification and sanctification, and they 
miss the point. Faith in Christ will always be 
evidenced by love to brethren, love to one another, love to 
Paul and his companions, love to those who are in need. She 
expresses that, she demonstrates that, she prevails upon them, 
and they stay with her and enjoy that Christian fellowship. Well, in conclusion, just a few 
thoughts before we close. First, the practice of these 
missionaries. Again, the word missionary is 
one of those words that has, you know, been spread so far 
and wide that in some sense it's kind of lost its meaning. It's 
kind of like Christian. Wouldn't you just be able to 
like to say, yeah, I'm a Christian. But you can't do that. Are you 
a Baptist? Are you Presbyterian? Are you Reformed? Are you not? 
Are you Armenian? You have to sort of identify 
that. You get, you know, signs, church names, Free Grace Baptist 
Church. Hopefully that tells people enough 
they need to know about what actually goes on in the church. 
We can't just say Christian. Well, missionary. You talking 
to your next-door neighbor does not make you a missionary, even 
if you're talking about Jesus. Remember what we saw when we 
looked at Acts chapter 13. The Holy Spirit is crucial. The church as well is crucial. The Spirit doesn't go to a missions 
organization. The Spirit doesn't go to private 
individuals. The Spirit doesn't go to the 
hotshot Bible teacher on his own. The Spirit comes to the 
church. And the Spirit instructs the 
church to separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work that 
I have called them. What was the work that he had called them 
unto? Again, it's not wrong to bring humanitarian aid. It's 
not wrong for Paul to engage his trade and make tents. It's 
not wrong to show that expression of love relative to people that 
are suffering. But the primary emphasis with 
reference to missionaries and the way we ought to pray is that 
they would be men. Men that God raises up, men that 
are fitted by God and qualified by God, and men that are vetted 
by the church vis-a-vis 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1, 1 Peter 
5, Acts chapter 20, and various other places in the New Testament 
where we find bits and pieces speaking or owing to this particular 
issue. Once we ordain those men, we 
send them out, and their task is to go to preach Christ and 
Him crucified, to make disciples, and to plant churches. That's 
a missionary strictly defined, and that's what the church needs 
today. Secondly, the hope of the nations. I read Psalm 67 at the outset 
of worship. I trust all of you have it memorized, 
but I'll just refresh us on a few things. God be merciful to us 
and bless us, cause his face to shine upon us, Selah. That, 
notice verse 2, your way may be known on earth, your salvation 
among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O 
God. Let all the peoples praise you. Oh, let the nations be glad 
and sing for joy. For you shall judge the people 
righteously and govern the nations on earth. Let the peoples praise 
you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. 
Then the earth shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall 
bless us. God shall bless us. And then 
notice how the psalm ends. And all the ends of the earth 
shall fear him. Beautiful. Do we pray that way? Is that what we utter to God 
at the throne of grace? Do we have that kind of confident? 
What does Cary say or what did Cary say? Expect great things 
from God and do great things for God. Brethren, the Psalter 
is such an encouragement to gospel missions. Listen to John Calvin 
on Psalm 67. He says, the Psalm contains a 
prediction of Christ's kingdom under which the whole world was 
to be adopted into a privileged relationship with God. Calvin 
said that? Yeah, Calvin said that. C. H. Spurgeon said, despite the gloomy 
notions of some, we cling to the belief that the kingdom of 
Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe and that all 
flesh shall see the salvation of God. For this glorious consummation, 
we agonize in prayer. Brethren, is your prayer life 
marked by gospel missions? Do you concern yourself with 
reference to the cause of God and truth? Not just here in Canada, 
though we should pray for Canada, but to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. North Korea, we should be praying that God does a work 
there. Various countries of the earth 
that are steeped in Islam, we ought to pray that God would 
do a mighty work in those places. Send equipped men into those 
places to take the gospel and to proclaim Christ and Him crucified. Psalm 67 is the charter and we 
see these apostles operating accordingly. When this Macedonian 
man appears in vision and he says, come and help, they don't 
conclude we should go feed them. We should go clothe them. We 
should go tell them how to farm. No, we concluded that we should 
go preach the gospel to them. Brethren, that is our calling. 
That is our mission. Certainly as individual believers, 
as Christians, that second great command is ours. We are to love 
our neighbors as ourselves. We are to manifest that love 
in tangible goods transposed from us to others. But the primary 
calling of the church relative to missions is to preach Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified. Notice thirdly, by way of a practical 
observation, the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God 
in the activity of the missionaries. is not just sovereignty when 
God opens Lydia's heart, but it's sovereignty when they land 
in Troas. It's sovereignty when they launch 
out from Troas, and they go across the Aegean, they stop at Samothrace, 
and then they end up at Neapolis, and then go to Philippi, which 
was a foremost city of Macedonia, which was a colony. This is God's 
decree. This is God's will. This is God's 
mind. He is active in directing them. And that is a great boon and 
encouragement to us as we step out in faith and seek to obey 
and honor God. He doesn't leave us as orphans. 
He doesn't leave us on our own. He's given us word. He's given 
us spirit. He's given us our marching orders. 
And our task is simply to obey. It's to comply with the demand 
of our King. But then obviously the sovereignty 
of God in the salvation of sinners, vis-a-vis Lydia, the Lord opened 
her heart. The Lord brought the missionaries 
to the riverside in Philippi. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? There's no synagogue there, so what do they do? Well, we 
can't preach here. No, where do the Jews hang out? 
Or where do the Gentiles that fear God, where do they hang 
out? Oh, it's over there by the riverside. There's a group of 
women there. Okay, so they go over there and Paul speaks the 
truth concerning Jesus to them. The Lord brought the missionaries 
to preach the gospel to the women. The Lord brought Lydia there 
to hear the gospel. Notice she didn't get sick that 
morning. She didn't have a sniffle so she couldn't attend worship 
services at the Riverside on the Sabbath day. No, she was 
where she was going to be under the providence of God in terms 
of his sovereignty. And then the Lord opened her 
heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Romans 10, 17 is very 
clear. Faith comes by hearing and hearing 
by the word of Christ. Absolutely crucial. James 1.18, 
of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that 
we should become, as it were, a kind of first fruits of his 
creatures. The word is absolutely crucial. 1 Corinthians 1.21, for since 
in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, 
it pleased God through what? Through the foolishness of the 
message preached to save those who believe. but the effective 
power behind the word that enables sinners to embrace that word 
is God. So we don't embark on testifying 
or witnessing or evangelism or missionary enterprise in our 
own strength. we do so in dependence upon God. I hope every one of you pray 
on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, God, Holy Spirit, come in the 
preaching of the Word. We want to see sinners saved, 
and sinners aren't going to get saved by the bare hearing. They 
need the Holy Spirit to open the heart, to take that Word, 
and to bring it to bear upon them, to show Christ as an all-sufficient 
Savior for real, live sinners. The preaching, of the Word, highlighted 
in Acts 14, 1, bracketed by these statements concerning God's absolute 
sovereignty, I hope underscores to us the necessity of embracing 
both truths. We are not Arminians. We believe 
in the absolute sovereignty of God. But we're not hyper-Calvinists. We believe in the instrumentality 
of means. We believe in the responsibility 
of men. I think it was Rabbi Duncan, 
he was an Old Testament scholar, he was a Presbyterian, got the 
name Rabbi, probably because he was very familiar with all 
things Jewish. He says that Hyper-Calvinism is all house and no door. Arminianism 
is all door and no house. You don't want either, brethren. 
You want a house with a door. And that's exactly what the Bible 
presents to us. May God keep us from the error 
of Arminianism, of somehow thinking that it's up to sinners, somehow 
cajoling sinners and trying to prevail upon them so that they 
and their free will will come to the Lord Jesus. That is horrid. But may God keep us from hyper-Calvinism, 
which will never declare, with Paul and Silas, two Philippian 
jailers, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If our theology 
does not allow for us to tell sinners to flee the wrath to 
come by looking unto Jesus Christ, that theology is wrong. That 
theology is a sham, and that theology ought not to be embraced 
by people who understand God's holy word. And if you're not 
a believer here this morning, God Most High is in the business 
of opening hearts. That's what He does. That's His 
task. That is His prerogative. Your 
responsibility is to heed the things spoken with reference 
to the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Believe on Him and you 
will be saved. Believe on Him and be baptized. Believe on Him and express love 
for God and love for your fellow man. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word, we thank You for the clarity of 
it, and God, we thank You for the balance and the way that 
You teach us both things, Your absolute sovereignty and our 
responsibility. And we thank You, Lord God, in 
light of our own sinfulness and in light of our own past, that 
You did open our hearts. Because God, if it were up to 
us, we never would have. We would have never looked unto 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So we give praise to you for 
sovereignty. We give praise to you for election 
and predestination and those things that some people hate. 
God, we love it. We thank you and we praise you 
that you are the one who does save to the uttermost all who 
draw nigh unto you through Jesus Christ, your Son. Bless the word 
as it goes forth today. Bless missionaries that are undertaking 
the task of making disciples and of planting churches and 
raise up more men to serve in this capacity. And we ask this 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.